SIMPLIFYING
TEACHING
TO MAXIMIZE
LEARNING
VISION
Every child thriving at school, as a pathway toward a more prosperous future
Learning Alliance aims to achieve this by partnering with schools and Ministries of Education in Sub-Saharan Africa to bring evidence-based teaching practices into every classroom, supporting teachers to deliver an excellent education to every child.
THE PROBLEM
Most students in Sub-Saharan Africa attend school but learn very little.
For instance, 86% cannot read with comprehension by the end of primary school. Math skills are similarly far behind.
Lack of basic skills holds back productivity, trapping people and countries in poverty.
THE SOLUTION
Structured Pedagogy is an evidence-based approach to improve learning outcomes by helping teachers be more effective.
Lesson Plans
Teacher Training & Ongoing Coaching
Student Textbooks
Daily lesson plans are at the core of the approach, with teachers receiving upfront training on lesson plan use, ongoing coaching to improve their approach, and integrated student textbooks.
Lesson plans provide simple daily instructions for teachers, to make it easy to integrate teaching best practices into their classes. Teachers like using lesson plans because they make teaching easier.
THE IMPACT
Over 20 studies show a
large and consistent impact
of Structured Pedagogy on improved learning outcomes.
A nationwide, multi-year study in Kenya found an increase in learning of 0.83 standard deviations (SD)*. This is considered a very large effect size.
*Standard Deviations is the most used metric to measure learning outcomes.
There is high quality evidence that improved educational outcomes lead to substantial income improvements for participants.
The most-cited meta-analysis suggests that 1 standard deviation increase in test scores leads to a 10-45% increase in individual income.
Structured Pedagogy is one of the most cost-effective programs ever identified in education. For instance, the Copenhagen Consensus calls it a “best buy” in education, with a cost of roughly $5 per student, and an estimated benefit of $105 for every $1 spent.
OUR TEAM
We have 19 years of combined experince in education and global development, and 9 years based in Africa. Expertise in program design and innovation for cost-effectiveness, scaling programs, development economics, and teaching.
Co-founder; Strategy & Innovation
Ilana has 13 years experience in leadership roles at global development NGOs, with a focus on scaling teams and innovating program models for impact and cost-effectiveness. She held the roles of Chief Strategy Officer at Precision Development; Director, Innovation at Evidence Action, and Global Director of Scale Innovation at One Acre Fund, where she was a General Partner. She was based in Sub-Saharan Africa for 8 years: Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania.
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She is a former 5th grade teacher with Teacher for America, and previously served as Executive Director of a network of schools in Liberia and Morocco.
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Ilana has a Master in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service and African Studies Certificate from Georgetown University. She holds an elementary teaching certificate from Rio Salado College.
Co-founder; Programs
Sofia is a development economist with a passion for implementing evidence-based programs and in-country relationship building. She was most recently based in Ghana supporting implementation and M&E for Maternal Health Initiative’s program pilot. She has previously worked at the intersection of research, policy, and scale-up at Evidence Action and J-PAL.
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Sofia has a Master in Data, Economics and Development Policy from MIT, where she was a Fulbright Scholar, and a Bachelor in Physics Engineering from Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
